CHARLESTON, S.C. (April 28, 2018) — A strike from Atualla Guerra in the dying seconds of the first half doomed the Tampa Bay Rowdies to a 1-0 loss against the Charleston Battery at MUSC Health Stadium on Saturday night.
The Rowdies (4-3-0, 12 points) rallied hard in the final stage of the match to get at least one point from the game, but ultimately fell short. Charleston (3-2-2, 11 points) picked up its second home win of the year.
Tampa Bay had the first great chance of the night in the 23rd minute, when forward Leo Fernandes made a daring run through and around a series of defenders, before laying the ball off to Georgi Hristov at the top of the box. Hristov dutifully gave it back in a textbook give-and-go to send Fernandes in alone on goal, but Battery goalkeeper Joe Kuzminsky made a big save at his near post to keep the Rowdies off the board.
Just a minute later, Hunter Gorskie earned a free header from a corner kick, but his header sailed wide of the target.
Charleston’s winning moment came from a simple possession as the Rowdies tried to close out the half, with Neveal Hackshaw playing an easy pass to Guerra at the corner of the box.
Guerra’s goal came on a swerving shot from the top of the box that bent away from Rowdies goalkeeper Cody Mizell at the same time that he lost his footing and slipped and snuck inside the post.
“We were planning one team talk because we think we performed pretty well in the first half and then we had to change it after conceding,” Rowdies Head Coach Stuart Campbell said. “We felt we were the better team in the first half and then our goalie slipped and we were behind. We spoke at halftime to not feel sorry for ourselves. Don’t mash any rash decisions because we knew we had 45 minutes to go.”
Campbell turned to his bench early, inserting Jochen Graf into the match in the 61st minute as the Rowdies chased the match.
Ultimately, the Rowdies would play the final 10 minutes with four forwards on the field simultaneously in Sebastian Guenzatti, Graf, Georgi Hristov and Junior Flemmings.
With all that firepower on the field, Tampa Bay looked more than capable of equalizing the match with frantic effort in the closing minutes.
Tampa Bay never got its equalizer though, with Guenzatti putting a header over the bad in the 86th minute and then having a shot blocked in stoppage time.
Between those chances, Neill Collins put a thumping header on target from a corner kick, but Kuzminsky was there to make the save.
“As the second half went on, we really grew into it made more than enough chances in the end to win the game,” Campbell said. “We chased the game right up until the 93rd minute when their boy blocked what looked to be a certain goal for me on (Guenzatti’s) shot.”
The Rowdies must now regroup for a Friday night trip to face Penn FC and former Assistant Coach Raoul Voss, now the manager of Penn, next week.
Scoring Summary
Battery: Ataulla Guerra – 45+ minute
Caution Summary
Battery: Vincenzo Candela – 5th minute
Rowdies: Joe Cole – 30th minute
Battery: Jarad van Schalk – 46th minute
Starting Lineups
Rowdies XI (4-3-3): GK Cody Mizell; D Kyle Curinga, Hunter Gorskie, Neill Collins, Zac Portillos; M Joe Cole (c) (Junior Flemmings 81′), Lance Rozeboom, Marcel Schäfer; F Michael Nanchoff (Sebastian Guenzatti 68′), Georgi Hristov, Leo Fernandes (Jochen Graf 61′)
Battery XI (3-4-3): GK Joe Kuzmunsky; D Skylar Thomas, Taylor Mueller, Neveal Hackshaw; M Nico Rittmeyer (Jay Bolt 79′), Tah Brian Anunga, Vincenzo Candela, Jarad van Schalk; F Ataulla Guerra (Gordon Wild 67′), Ian Svantesson, Kotaro Higashi
